Participants:
Series Code: MMS
Program Code: MMS011023S
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00:01 Hi, I'm Dustin Comm with the Maranatha Minute.
00:03 Maranatha has been busy in Brazil drilling water wells 00:06 in the dry north eastern part of the country. 00:09 We recently hit water for the Pitimbu congregation 00:12 where the output of the well 00:14 is more than 1,000 gallons per hour. 00:16 This community will now benefit 00:18 from abundant clean water close at hand. 00:21 And the congregation 00:22 recently held a dedication service 00:24 inviting their community to use this free resource. 00:27 We also completed a well 00:29 for the Sitio Cabaceiras congregation. 00:31 Maranatha previously constructed 00:33 a one day church here 00:34 and members had been working to finish the walls themselves. 00:37 But with no nearby water to make stucco, 00:40 the work stalled out. 00:42 Now members have easily accessible water 00:44 to finish the job right at the church site. 00:47 To see more project updates from Brazil 00:50 and around the world, 00:51 follow us on social media. 00:53 Find us on Facebook and Instagram 00:55 to see photos and videos 00:57 from the mission field every day. 01:20 March, 01:22 Maranatha's busiest time of year 01:24 for volunteers. 01:28 Each year during the spring, 01:30 hundreds of Maranatha volunteers 01:32 pour into the mission field. 01:34 It makes up half 01:36 of Maranatha's total number of volunteers 01:38 for the year. 01:41 March 2020 was supposed to be the same. 01:45 Maranatha had recently started working 01:47 in the country of Peru 01:48 and expected hundreds of volunteers 01:50 to serve there as well as other locations. 01:55 But an extraordinary event was developing 01:57 that would soon ground Maranatha volunteers 02:00 and the rest of the world. 02:03 A novel Coronavirus, eventually known as COVID-19, 02:07 had begun to spread around the globe 02:09 infecting significant portions of the population. 02:15 This virus would soon bring travel, 02:17 commerce and life itself to a standstill. 02:22 Chris Webb 02:24 is a high school English teacher 02:25 in Texas who was preparing to lead 02:27 a group of more than 70 volunteers 02:29 from Burton Adventist Academy on a mission trip to Peru. 02:35 I think pretty early on, 02:37 no one really knew 02:39 how big of a deal this would be, 02:41 no one really knew that this was going to like 02:43 stop the world, stop our country. 02:45 The week leading up to the trip 02:47 was a really interesting one for us, 02:50 we weren't really sure 02:51 that we were going to be able to pull it off or not. 02:53 There was some political concerns, 02:56 there were some nervousness, I think, from our school board, 02:59 justifiably so that we could leave 03:02 the country, that we could get back safely. 03:05 You know, there was issues of if we were to get stranded, 03:08 what that would look like. 03:10 After carefully weighing the risks, 03:12 the Burton Group decided to move forward 03:14 with their mission trip and safely departed for Peru. 03:18 As time went on, 03:19 the global response to COVID-19 was beginning to tighten. 03:23 By mid March, 03:25 things were changing on a day to day basis. 03:27 And March 11, 03:29 the President had a press conference 03:31 in which he restricted travel for people coming from Europe 03:35 to the United States. 03:36 And that really was a change point for us 03:39 and that it started to make 03:41 everybody in the United States think, 03:43 "Okay, something's really big and different happening here. 03:46 And it's going to shift 03:47 whether or not we're able to travel." 03:49 And so people started... 03:50 Our group leader started to reevaluate 03:52 whether they should go out. 03:55 It's really important to us 03:56 that we make sure 03:58 that our trips are as safe as possible 03:59 for all our volunteers. 04:01 And so as we were looking at mission trips 04:05 happening in the lead up to COVID, 04:08 we also evaluated are these trips safe? 04:11 Are we putting anybody at unnecessary risk? 04:16 And we use a number of different ways 04:18 to do that. 04:19 But it was paramount then 04:20 as it is for every mission trip. 04:23 We monitor a lot of information 04:25 that comes from safety organizations 04:28 from risk management companies around the world, 04:31 international travel type organizations, 04:35 and we also rely on our eyes and ears on the ground. 04:38 So our employees, 04:40 all of our contacts within the church, 04:43 that are getting information 04:45 in a real time basis on the ground 04:46 are sources for us as we determine 04:48 whether a project is safe or not. 04:50 And we use all of that information 04:52 as much as we can get to evaluate things 04:55 as we were moving through March, 04:57 it related to COVID. 04:59 Groups were really starting to wonder 05:01 if we're ever going to be able to go 05:03 on a mission trip or not. 05:04 And by mid March, 05:06 many of our trips had either canceled, 05:08 postponed. 05:11 Greg Hatch is a veteran mission trip leader 05:13 having led more than 30 Maranatha projects 05:16 over the years. 05:17 In March 2020, 05:19 he was evaluating whether his group 05:20 from the West Houston Seventh-day Adventist Church 05:23 should continue with their mission trip 05:25 to the African nation of Cote d'Ivoire. 05:28 The night before we were supposed to leave 05:31 we were leaving on a Thursday, 05:34 kind of midday and getting there Friday night. 05:38 My wife and I were watching something 05:40 and, you know, everything is done, 05:41 we're just ready to go, all packed, ready to go. 05:44 And my phone just started blowing up 05:46 with text messages from my niece, my dad, 05:49 everybody on the trip, like, 05:50 "Have you heard the news, have you seen the news?" 05:52 No, I haven't seen any news. 05:53 I'm watching a game or something. 05:54 And that was the night 05:56 that President Trump came out with his proclamation 05:59 that nobody can fly from Europe to the United States, 06:02 which was a big problem for us, 06:04 because we were flying through Europe 06:08 to get to Cote d'Ivoire, 06:09 and then returning through Europe, 06:11 when we were done with the trip. 06:14 So there is about a four hour period 06:15 where Lisandro and myself 06:17 were calling literally everybody we knew 06:19 trying to figure out what this meant, 06:21 did this mean we couldn't go on the trip? 06:23 And fortunately, late that night, 06:27 you know, it came out that yes, if you're a US citizen, 06:30 or if you're in the country legally, 06:32 you can get back in through one of the 13 airports 06:35 but and that was a little tense four hours. 06:40 So at that point, we then, 06:42 you know, we had to ask the group, 06:44 "Hey, do you all still want to go? 06:48 And all through the night the replies kept coming. 06:51 "I'm in. I'm in. We're going. Let's do this." 06:54 And we had 31 of the 39, who ended up deciding to go. 06:59 So that was great. 07:01 When we come back, 07:02 the West Houston group travels to Africa, 07:04 while other Maranatha groups make hard decisions 07:07 as the world continues to tighten 07:09 due to COVID-19. 07:24 Are you wondering 07:26 what is happening in the world of missions 07:27 during these unique times? 07:29 Watch Mission Maranatha for a comprehensive look 07:32 at how God has been 07:33 and continues to open doors 07:35 for the mission of Maranatha in 2020. 07:39 Visit maranatha.org to watch the program 07:41 in its entirety. 07:43 Or pick an individual segment 07:45 to watch and share with a friend. 07:48 You can also watch this mission event 07:49 on Maranatha's YouTube channel @youtube.com/missionstories. 07:56 Bring the mission field to your living room 07:57 by watching Mission Maranatha 07:59 on the Maranatha channel for Roku, 08:01 Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. 08:08 Or download the Maranatha channel 08:09 on your iOS or Android device. 08:13 Stay connected to the mission. 08:25 As the West Houston group 08:26 safely made it to Cote d'Ivoire, 08:28 travel restrictions continue to mount 08:30 and other Maranatha groups 08:31 were forced to make tough choices. 08:36 A group from the Gracepoint Adventist Church 08:38 in California decided to travel to Kenya 08:40 but ended up turning around before they made it. 08:45 Another group of volunteers was already in Kenya serving 08:48 at the Kajiado Adventist School and Rescue Center. 08:52 As airlines around the globe 08:54 began to announce cuts in service, 08:56 some of the group moved up their flights 08:57 to leave early. 09:00 The rest of the volunteers departed a few days later. 09:06 Back in Peru, Chris Webb's group was safe 09:09 in the midst of a successful project 09:11 constructing a new building 09:12 for the Huaycan R Seventh-day Adventist Church. 09:18 I think that our mission trip went amazingly well. 09:21 We built the church 09:22 and no one got hurt other than sunburns. 09:26 I think we were able to see 1300 patients. 09:29 Our medical people were able to see that, 09:31 you know, see some surgeries, 09:33 we had people handing out glasses 09:35 and we had eye doctors who were doing, 09:37 you know, checks and all that. 09:40 We were able to take care of like 09:43 a number of different locations 09:45 as far as like doing VBS programming. 09:47 And meanwhile my wife and I 09:49 were as we were running the trip, 09:50 we would kind of be traveling 09:52 between the different work sites 09:53 and uploading pictures 09:54 and you know you pull your phone out 09:56 and you start seeing stuff like, 09:57 okay, well you know, there, 09:59 this school is now being shut down indefinitely. 10:04 These airports you know it doesn't, 10:06 it doesn't look like you're going to be able to like 10:07 travel through this certain airport 10:09 or you know certain countries and stuff like that 10:11 or, you know, the number of cases in Texas 10:15 and the number of cases in Peru 10:17 and, you know, Peru is a really big country 10:19 and so, you know, so yeah, it's area was calculus, 10:22 it's all those pieces together 10:24 kind of coming into my head 10:27 and just kind of like thinking like, 10:29 okay, well, how do we deal with this? 10:31 Is this something where we need to bail out? 10:32 Or is this something that we're still doing well? 10:34 And I feel like throughout that entire process, 10:37 we were always very, very safe, very safe. 10:40 Well, everybody worked so hard over the course of that week 10:43 and so our reward portion, 10:45 our adventure that after we were done 10:47 with all the stuff, 10:48 was to get in a plane and fly from Lima to Cusco 10:52 and then make our way up the mountain 10:54 in this really high elevation and make it to Machu Picchu. 10:57 We were just so just at the top of the world 11:00 like literally was the coolest experience 11:03 and such a beautiful way to kind of cap off the trip. 11:08 Yeah, we were literally on top of the mountain 11:10 and we got our way back to the hotel 11:12 and as we were preparing to kind of eat and relax, 11:15 then we hear the news. 11:18 What we found out was that 11:19 Peru was going to be shutting down their airspace 11:22 Monday evening in a little less than 24 hours 11:24 and unfortunately our flight leaving from Lima 11:27 back to the United States via Mexico City 11:30 was going to be leaving on Tuesday morning, 11:32 very early on Tuesday morning like at 4 am. 11:35 Also, in Peru, hearing the same news 11:38 was a group of 38 volunteers 11:39 from Alaska with Amazing Grace Academy. 11:42 They had been serving in the town of Ika 11:44 to construct a large school building. 11:47 Twenty members traveled to Cusco 11:48 in order to see Machu Picchu, 11:50 unfortunately they had to cancel 11:52 their excursion. 11:53 However, as a smaller group 11:55 they were able to quickly find flights out of Peru 11:58 through Bolivia before the midnight deadline. 12:01 The Burton Group was still two hours away 12:03 from the Cusco airport 12:04 and with rumors that the roads might soon be shut down 12:07 or curfews enforced, 12:09 the sooner that they could get to Cusco 12:11 and catch a flight to Lima the better. 12:15 Because of Burton's large group of 72 volunteers, 12:18 even once they got there, 12:20 commercial flights would be difficult to find. 12:23 I've traveled enough in my own life 12:26 that if I'm on a trip by myself or with my family 12:32 and they shut the borders down, 12:35 cool like that's we'll deal with it, 12:38 it's a cool opportunity 12:39 to have a crazy experience, right? 12:42 When you're there 12:44 with 50 something high school kids 12:46 and I looked 12:48 at each one of those of their parents in the eyes 12:50 and I said I'm gonna bring your kid home. 12:53 The scariest thing is when we find out 12:55 that something's about to go down like I kept... 13:00 To me I just kept coming back 13:01 to how I'm going to get these kids back 13:03 like that's the promise I made. 13:06 Things kind of progressed along the trip 13:08 and their kind of starts to become this like dark cloud 13:11 of like, you know, COVID 13:13 and then you know, 13:15 are they going to shut 13:16 our airport down and everything, 13:18 and it was very easy for me personally 13:20 to get into kind of a dark place 13:21 and to really feel, 13:23 you know, down and discouraged 13:24 and scared and just wondering, okay, what's next? 13:26 What's next? 13:28 And the kids were absolutely my inspiration. 13:31 They were unbelievable. 13:33 Literally almost we see tear just thinking about like 13:36 the number of kids that would like come up to me 13:38 and they'd be like 13:39 "Mr. Webb, we appreciate you doing a great job 13:41 and like, " I could be like, 13:42 "I don't know if we're getting home." 13:44 They're like, "It's cool man, we're just having bread, 13:46 like we're good, 13:48 we're having a good time like you're doing your best." 13:51 So we sit around the airport, basically all day 13:54 and try to come up with a plan 13:56 for, okay, once we get to Lima, then how do we get out of Lima? 14:01 And there's a couple different plans 14:02 that were in place 14:03 and thankfully we had some people from our church, 14:07 who stepped up 14:08 and arranged for a flight 14:12 to take us from Lima back to the United States 14:17 as long as we could get out before midnight on Monday. 14:22 Strangely enough I think our flight was delayed 14:24 like 30 or 45 minutes, 14:25 but I feel like we got to Lima on time. 14:30 We had to still get our luggage 14:32 that had been left at the university 14:33 and make our way through customs 14:35 and check in 14:36 and we have to make our way through security 14:39 and everything and everything and everything. 14:41 We get everybody into this big, gigantic airplane, 14:45 and I remember looking at my watch 14:47 and it was 11:58 pm. 14:50 The airspace was gonna shut down 14:51 at midnight. 14:54 I've never been on a flight before 14:55 where the plane starts moving when people aren't seated. 15:00 Somebody almost fell over 15:02 because they were just trying to get out, 15:04 tried to get out, I don't know, 15:05 if there could have possibly been another plane 15:07 that left after us. 15:09 I feel like we were the last ones out. 15:10 I mean I keep coming back 15:12 to just how much of a God thing this trip was? 15:16 I really do truthfully feel 15:18 that we were constantly in this position 15:21 of being challenged to this level 15:23 that I could not possibly deal with myself. 15:27 I couldn't write plans fast enough, 15:29 I couldn't make decisions fast enough 15:33 and it took a pretty incredible level 15:37 of just kind of letting it go, 15:39 having faith in God, having faith in my team, 15:42 having faith in Maranatha 15:45 and just kind of like recognizing like, 15:47 we're gonna be taken care of. 15:49 When we come back, 15:50 see how the worldwide shutdown 15:52 would impact the West Houston Volunteer Group 15:54 in Cote d'Ivoire. 16:07 If you know someone in high school, 16:09 tell them about 16:10 Maranatha's annual teens-only mission trip, 16:12 The Ultimate Workout. 16:14 For the past three decades, 16:15 high schoolers from around the world 16:17 have joined The Ultimate Workout 16:18 to volunteer. 16:20 On this special project, 16:21 teens get out of their comfort zone, 16:23 serve others and grow physically, 16:25 socially and spiritually. 16:28 This July, The Ultimate Workout is headed to Peru 16:30 to serve near the capital city of Lima. 16:33 Teen volunteers will help construct 16:35 two new churches 16:36 as well as paint and renovate another building in the area. 16:40 In addition to construction, 16:42 teams will reach out into the local community 16:44 through children's ministry programs 16:46 and creative outreach projects. 16:48 And while in Peru, 16:50 volunteers will also get to see the sights and sounds 16:52 of the city of Lima 16:54 and experience warm Peruvian culture. 16:57 To learn more about The Ultimate Workout 16:59 and all of Maranatha's upcoming mission trips, 17:02 visit maranatha.org/volunteer. 17:10 Some companies spend millions of dollars 17:12 to bring you these sounds and images. 17:16 I made it. 17:18 These sounds and images 17:19 are created from the dollars you give to Maranatha. 17:24 Your support of our well drilling efforts 17:26 is bringing clean accessible water 17:28 to communities in Africa, India and Brazil, 17:32 because while this sell soda, 17:34 this saves lives. 17:40 With all volunteers out of Peru, 17:42 and the last volunteers departing Kenya, 17:44 the only remaining Maranatha volunteers 17:46 in the field were Greg Hatch's group 17:49 in Cote d'Ivoire. 17:51 Cote d'Ivoire was a great trip and to a person, 17:56 everybody was very excited about our time there, 18:00 Coronavirus aside. 18:02 I mean, it started that Sabbath morning 18:04 'cause we got in Friday night 18:06 and Sabbath morning we went to church. 18:09 At the church that had been built 18:11 by a previous group, 18:12 pastor and the first elder, 18:15 both of them said through a translator, 18:18 of course, 'cause I don't speak French. 18:21 They said, "Thank you for coming, 18:24 and that we've been praying for you. 18:27 And that the whole church and the entire country 18:29 has been praying for you over the last week." 18:33 And because they've heard what's going on 18:37 with the Coronavirus and all that 18:38 said, "We're just praying 18:39 that you would still come to serve." 18:42 And that was very empowering 18:44 even before we started the work. 18:46 I was working on the roof, getting the roof on 18:48 and I noticed a crowd of people gathering over there, 18:51 you know, where the bus is usually parked. 18:53 I called the, you know, first elder and said, 18:56 "Why is everybody lined up over there?" 19:00 The elder said, "They're here for the evangelism." 19:02 I said, "Evangelism." 19:04 And I thought to myself at the time 19:06 when he said that I thought 19:07 well, the first elder has been... 19:09 He had a chair every day 19:11 and he would sit there and he would talk to everybody. 19:14 I thought, "Oh, he's preaching to them." 19:17 And I came down and I said, "Well, where's the evangelist?" 19:19 And he said, "You." 19:20 You, brother, you're the evangelism," 19:22 and said, "People came to watch you guys work. 19:24 And this is evangelism." 19:26 And so that was also a nice way to end, 19:28 we kind of, you know, 19:30 sandwiched between everybody praying for us to get there, 19:33 the fact that they thought 19:34 what we were doing was evangelism. 19:37 Every morning throughout the week, 19:38 I not by choice, 19:40 I was waking up earlier and earlier 19:42 and had my devotion 19:43 and then I would read 19:45 what's going on throughout the world 19:47 and that was always a bad idea. 19:49 But it would let us know what's going on 19:52 and I would have to put it out of my mind 19:55 while I'm on the job site. 19:57 Number one, for a safety reason you got to be, 19:59 you know, watch what you're doing. 20:01 But two, you know, we wanted to be very present 20:04 and be there for why we were there. 20:06 But it was hard, you know, yeah, during lunch, 20:08 you look at your phone and you see what's going on. 20:11 But you just have to put it out of your mind 20:12 and there was time for that in the evening 20:14 to spend time on the phone with airlines 20:18 and with Lisandro and with others, 20:20 but during the day, 20:22 I would do my best to put it out of there. 20:25 So as soon as we got there, Claude, Al and I realized, 20:28 as of Sunday, you know, 20:30 the world is continuing descend into chaos around us, 20:33 we were fine. 20:34 Yeah, we were in good shape. 20:35 But getting home is going to be a challenge. 20:37 We originally supposed to be there 20:39 through Tuesday of the following week, 20:41 with a very nice excursion on the beach, 20:43 it was going to be great. 20:44 We made the decision on Sunday, 20:46 you know, two days after we got there, 20:48 like we got to get out as soon as the work's done. 20:51 When it was time to leave, 20:53 half of the group departed successfully 20:54 with the help of an airline manager 20:56 for seven countries in West Africa named John Luke. 21:01 He's a problem solver. 21:02 So we continue the conversation 21:04 while our guys make it through security, 21:05 we weren't gonna leave until they were through. 21:08 And so he and Gilberto strike up a conversation 21:11 and more information, and as we're leaving, 21:13 we get his card 21:15 because Gilberto thinks, 21:16 "Oh, you know, at some point, I might need him, right? 21:19 I might need, another group might have a problem. 21:22 So we get his information. 21:25 And so we leave, 21:26 and we go back to the hotel 21:27 and we're ready for the next day. 21:29 And our group makes it out, no problems, they get through, 21:32 and they get home. 21:34 The second half of the group's flight 21:35 was canceled. 21:37 To make matters worse, 21:39 John Luke told Greg 21:40 that Cote d'Ivoire would be closing 21:41 its airport and borders the following night. 21:46 They had already purchased backup tickets. 21:48 So the next day 21:49 the group arrived at the airport 21:50 but were denied boarding 21:52 because they had transferred through Europe the week before, 21:55 they would miss the deadline. 21:58 For Hatch, an organized veteran mission trip leader, 22:01 the realization set in 22:02 that all of his planning was exhausted. 22:07 With commercial flights off the table, 22:09 Hatch began to look into alternative options. 22:13 Hatch reached out to the US Embassy 22:15 and researched an expensive charter flight. 22:18 Maranatha worked 22:20 through the Adventist Church World Headquarters 22:21 to contact the US Department of State, 22:24 and senators from the states 22:25 where the remaining volunteers lived. 22:28 There was talk of an evacuation flight 22:30 for US citizens later in the week. 22:35 I get a voice message over WhatsApp 22:37 from the embassy lady. 22:38 She says, "I think I've got an option, 22:41 I'm going to be sending you information 22:43 that you need to fill out for your group." 22:44 And she said, "Your group needs to pray 22:46 that this works." 22:49 A government employee telling me to pray, 22:52 "Okay, I'm going to listen." 22:54 And so we brought everybody together and said, 22:57 "Guys, we're going to have a prayer meeting right now. 23:01 Because it's been... 23:03 We should have done this before, 23:04 but it's being asked of us. 23:05 And so we're going to do it." 23:07 And so we laid it all out there. 23:08 And that was the first time 23:10 where I finally truly let it go. 23:14 Up until then, I've been trying to use 23:17 all of my training, all of the experience 23:20 to work through the problem. 23:22 And that was finally when I just said, 23:23 "God, take it. 23:25 Go ahead and You run with it." 23:28 So we had an amazing prayer session. 23:31 And, you know, about half hour 23:35 after we finished the prayer session. 23:37 I get a call from John Luke, 23:39 he calls me rather than just email 23:41 and he says, "I have seats. 23:42 I have four seats. 23:44 Who do you want on it? 23:46 And 20 minutes later he calls me again and says, 23:47 "Well, " he says, 23:49 "What would you think 23:51 if I got all 13 on that flight?" 23:52 I said, "I would think 23:54 that you're a direct answer to prayer 23:55 is what I would think." 23:56 And he started going through all the information, 23:59 taking the credit card and getting us booked. 24:01 So he said, "You need to be at the airport at six." 24:04 So within three and a half hours 24:07 of that prayer session we were booked, 24:10 ticketed at the airport. 24:12 And that was the most amazing direct answer to prayer 24:15 that any of us have ever seen. 24:17 I thought I knew what prayer was 24:19 until we had that prayer session. 24:20 Right? 24:22 We were praying the entire week but we weren't... 24:26 I'll speak for myself. 24:28 I won't speak for everybody's self, 24:29 I hadn't truly handed it over to God. 24:31 Right? And that was a mistake. 24:34 And then one that I hope I don't make again. 24:37 The second was faith, 24:38 that we needed to have faith that God was going... 24:41 He brought us to this challenge, 24:43 He's going to get us through the challenge. 24:46 On March 23, after days fraught with drama, 24:50 the group arrived back in the United States. 24:54 You know, that it felt great. 24:57 There's no question about that. 24:59 I told the, you know, Customs and Border Patrol, 25:01 he said, "Welcome to America," 25:02 I said, "You have no idea how welcome I am." 25:05 And so one of the biggest takeaways 25:06 is, as I think God was just... 25:08 He was just kind of sitting behind me, 25:09 you know, just watching and finally, when it was time, 25:13 He just kind of tapped me on the shoulder and said, 25:15 "Are you ready for me to take it now? 25:18 Good, good, you gave it up. 25:19 I've got it now, let's get this done." 25:21 You know, two days of worrying... 25:24 Well, 10 days of worrying and planning for me, 25:27 You got it done in three and a half hours. 25:30 So that's the biggest learning for me. 25:33 By March 24, 25:35 all Maranatha Volunteers had made it home. 25:38 Whether it was disrupting travel 25:40 or postponing volunteer projects. 25:42 COVID-19 had a significant impact 25:45 on Maranatha during March 2020, 25:48 but it could not crush the spirit of Maranatha. 25:53 I was really taken 25:55 by how every single group leader 25:57 that we were working with, 25:59 mission trip leader, 26:00 was so focused 26:02 on wanting to get their volunteers 26:03 out into the mission field. 26:05 And they were really focused and really, 26:09 it was really important to them, 26:10 that they fulfill the mission that they had started. 26:13 Many of them had taken site visits ahead of time 26:16 and felt like they made a commitment 26:17 to the host community that they were going to visit. 26:19 And so that for them, it was almost personal, 26:21 that they might not be able to go. 26:23 And so almost to a person, 26:26 these leaders were feeling 26:29 that if God wanted them to go that He would make the... 26:33 He would open the doors for them and make it possible. 26:35 If not, He would shut the doors. 26:37 And until the door is shut, 26:38 they were gonna push as hard as possible, 26:40 and that was really inspiring. 26:43 March 2020 was a trying time for the world. 26:47 But in the following weeks and months, 26:49 Maranatha began to push forward. 26:54 Our local crews sheltering in place 26:56 started to safely work in countries like India, 27:01 Zambia, 27:06 and Kenya. 27:11 The mission was interrupted, but not stopped. 27:18 Months later, 27:19 volunteers would again serve on projects 27:22 starting in the United States. 27:28 Despite seemingly insurmountable odds, 27:31 Maranatha would continue to advance the mission 27:34 with the same unrelenting passion 27:36 displayed by our volunteers. |
Revised 2021-01-27